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Pearls to remember

It was in late 1958, while I was working as an Assistant Research

Officer (Molluscs) at the Madras Research Centre of CMFRI, that I got

an official letter from the Chief Research Officer, CMFRS, Mandapam

Camp, asking me to proceed on tour to Tuticorin at a very early date. It

was to join Dr. Salvadori, an F.A.O. Fishery Scientist who had specializedin SCUBA (Self contained underwater breathing apparatus) diving as an

understudy. The pearl oyster fishery off the coast of Tuticorin had become

very erratic and for a number of years no fishery was possible due to the

unproductive nature of the pearl oyster beds. Hence the Central

Government requested the Food and Agricultural Organisation at Rome

to depute a fishery scientist who was well versed in SCUBA diving toTuticorin for a few months to dive and study the actual status of the

pearl oyster beds and their distribution and also to train personnel for

SCUBA diving. As the pearl oysters in the State was under the jurisdiction

K. Nagappan Nayar

� Designation at retirement : Principal Scientist

� Period of Service : 1952 - 1987

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of the Tamilnadu Fisheries, Dr. Salvadori was sent to Tuticorin withinstructions to the Asst. Director of Fisheries, to look after his

accommodation and other facilities for carrying out underwater

explorations. The work assigned to me was to work as an understudy to

him in all his underwater studies. This work involved carrying out

extensive underwater diving operations using SCUBA diving to study

the distribution pattern of pearl oysters, its density and its populations inthe pearl banks which are mainly located in the Gulf of Mannar off

Tuticorin at about 15-25 km away from the shore.

Earlier only the Indian Navy had a team of SCUBA divers to carry

out their underwater work. Some of my colleagues persuaded me not to

get involved in this hazardous and dangerous type of work. I was able tolay my hands on a few underwater books and read and understood about

SCUBA diving. I seriously thought about this type of work which was

carried out extensively in different parts of the world, I decided to accept

the offer and take up this challenging assignment. I immediately proceeded

to Tuticorin and joined there to carry out this project.

At that time there was only one counterpart from the StateGovernment. In addition to the two of us, Dr. Salvadori requested the

State Government to spare the regular skin divers working in the

Department also to undergo the SCUBA diving training. All the formalities

were completed within a few days time and the expert started the

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underwater diving training work for all of us in the open sea. Within acouple of weeks, all of us learnt SCUBA diving. Diving in the open sea

was a fascinating experience. When I reached the sea bottom to a depth of

about 20 m I found a variety of marine life all around me. The number

of different types of small beautifully coloured fishes all around me and

the number of live corals with their polyps fully opened surrounded with

numerous fishes was beautiful. With great delight we caught lobsters andbrought them up. I was able to photograph the underwater animals with

the latest underwater cameras. I felt I was altogether in a fascinating

work and enjoyed the experience tremendously. On alternate days we

set sail in the early morning and reached the diving station for the day's

work, usually more than 20 m off the shore. We returned back after thediving session invariably between 3 pm and 4 pm. Initially two of us

used to dive at one single place and thus we started the survey operations.

After a couple of months experience, we all started diving independently

at different stations. In the meanwhile a few more counterparts from the

State and also from the Centre joined the team and started their training.

Dr. Salvadori's initial assignment was for a period of three months, butbefore the period was over his assignment was extended for a further

period of three months. I was also given to understand orally in the

beginning of the assignment itself that after the expert left India, I would

be sent back to Madras. When Dr. Salvadori left Tuticorin after completion

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of his assignment, I got an office order stating that a new Centre is to bestarted at Tuticorin and I had been posted as the Officer-in-Charge of

that Centre. This came to me as a rude shock, since I was anxiously

waiting at that time to go back to Madras. This office order posting me at

Tuticorin continued for a period of over two and a half decades of my life

! This however enabled me to work without interruption on pearl oysters

and edible oysters.